Shoppers only just realising what the 'e' symbol on food means

e symbol on food
-Credit: (Image: (Image: Alex Evans))


The 'e' symbol, a seemingly insignificant letter printed on countless food items sold in major supermarkets like Tesco, Aldi, Asda, Sainsbury's, and Morrisons, is finally being understood for what it truly represents.

This small lowercase 'e', nestled among the weight, barcode, and copyright logos on packaging, has become such a familiar sight that most shoppers overlook its presence. However, as one mother found out after purchasing a packet of crisps, this symbol signifies 'estimated'.

Essentially, the 'e' indicates that the weight stated on the product is an average, meaning manufacturers are not required to weigh each individual item. Instead, they calibrate their production lines to ensure that most products meet the packet's weight criteria.

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In a startling discovery, a mum was shocked when her 230g bag of Aldi crisps weighed in at just 139g, with the entire bag, chips included, only reaching 157g. She remarked, "More than two-thirds of the packet was air - hence why I decided to check it... I put the whole bag with chips in it on the scales first and it was 157g.", reports the Express.

While the e mark is not compulsory, its use on packaging permits manufacturers to sell their goods across any EU nation without conforming to additional national standards, adhering instead to EU regulations regarding weight.

Despite originating as an EU regulation, the 'e' mark has gained international acceptance, being used globally, including in countries like Australia and the UK.

The EU's Your Europe has clarified: "The -mark is not mandatory. However, having it affixed to your products enables you to sell them in all EU countries without having to check whether you have complied with individual national requirements.

"The -mark shows that a product complies with EU rules on the indication of the volume or weight and the measuring methods that you must use as a seller of pre-packaged products.

"To ensure that the quantity displayed is correct, -marked packages must fulfil the following requirements: the average quantity of product in packages coming from the same batch must be equal to or greater than the quantity mentioned on the package.

"Only a limited proportion of the prepackaged products from the same batch may have a smaller amount of product than indicated on the package. This is referred to as "tolerable negative error" and it is set in the annex 1 of the EU legislation."

So essentially, the occasional bag of crisps or packet of biscuits can legally be underweight with the e symbol, but if it happens consistently, then it's breaking the law.